Modern digital images frequently require the adjustment or reduction of the dynamic range between lighter and darker areas. In some cases adjustment is required in order to approximate the appearance of a higher dynamic range in a medium that has a more limited dynamic range. For example, real world scenes may have a wide luminance range and current digital imaging technology may enable the capturing of the full dynamic range of a natural scene. However, different display media, such as printed media, display monitors, and projectors, may all have different capabilities which may or may not be inadequate to reproduce the full range of light intensities represented in a digital image. When displayed using these media, an image may have areas in which details are note visible. Thus, the dynamic range of an image may need to be compressed for a particular medium so that the image appears aesthetically pleasing.
Tone mapping is one current technique used to map one set of colors to another, such as to adjust the overall dynamic range of a digital image. However, tone mapping frequently introduces various artifacts or effects in images, such as halos or rings around dark objects, overly saturated colors, or an unnatural appearance due to contrasts distortions.